Trend Micro Internet Security Review

Trend Micro is one of the few internet security programs that earned a perfect score for correctly stopping every malware threat we used in our testing, plus it earned perfect scores in other third-party labs so its overall malware protection score is 100 percent.

Trend Micro is one of the few internet security programs that earned a perfect score for correctly stopping every malware threat we used in our testing, plus it earned perfect scores in other third-party labs so its overall malware protection score is 100 percent. Both Trend Micro Internet Security and the premium security program Trend Micro Maximum Security come with a lot of extra protection tools to help keep you safe online no matter what you’re doing. The biggest drawback, though, is it does use more computer resources than other security programs, which causes some lag.

Not sure if this is the right antivirus software for you? Check out our best antivirus guide.

During our protection tests, Trend Micro used web reputation technology to prevent us from accessing malicious sites, including webpages that didn’t load because the site no longer existed or because it was taking too long. Trend Micro still recognized the URLs as being tied to a dangerous site and displayed a warning message anyway. This internet security program also uses this technology to stop viruses and other malware from downloading to your computer. By blocking the entire site, it gives threats no chance to even begin the download process.

Web reputation technology is also how Trend Micro can detect and stop threats in Microsoft Edge. Other internet and premium security programs use browser extensions to protect you online, but they have trouble catching threats coming through Edge because Microsoft doesn’t allow third-party browser extensions. But both Trend Micro Internet Security and Trend Micro Maximum Security stop threats regardless of the browser, so they’re a good choice if you primarily use Microsoft Edge as your internet browser.

One of the best features of Trend Micro is its cloud protection. A new threat that is becoming more prevalent is malware that infects your online cloud storage, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, then uses ransomware-type technology to hold your files hostage. Trend Micro is one of the few security programs that include dedicated cloud protection that secures your online files from these threats. Also, if you subscribe to the premium program, Trend Micro Maximum Security, you are offered online backup storage space on the Trend Micro servers that is even more protected.

Both security suites come with a personal firewall to monitor the communication between your computer and your internet connection, which helps keep hackers out. They also come with instant messaging protection and social media security that tells you when posted links will lead you to dangerous websites or are virus downloads. You also get a system vulnerability scan that looks for outdated programs, unused files and unprotected passwords that create weak spots in your computer where ransomware, hackers and other threats can sneak in.

These Trend Micro programs come with great parental controls that let you both block inappropriate websites and set time limits for when your kids can be online. Trend Micro Internet Security doesn’t come with a password manager, but you can pay a little extra for Trend Micro Maximum Security, which does.

Trend Micro Internet Security comes with a minimum of three user licenses, while Maximum Security comes with five. Maximum Security also includes mobile protection for Android devices.

To test both the Internet Security and Maximum Security software, we performed common online tasks while each program ran in the background and again during full virus scans. In both cases we noticed that the program uses a lot of computer resources, and we could see the lag when watching webpages load, playing online games and sending email. It wasn’t as apparent while watching videos, but it did take some time to fully load them. Our results mirrored those found by third-party test laboratories.

Despite using a lot of computer resources, Trend Micro does a good job protecting your computers. Both Trend Micro’s Internet Security and Maximum Security programs rank high for malware protection in our in-house tests and in other labs’ evaluations. Trend Micro Internet Security includes a personal firewall, social media security tools and parental controls. Maximum Security includes these functions along with a password manager, and it’s compatible with Android mobile devices.